It was destroyed by Russia. How the ice infrastructure of Ukraine suffered as a result of hostilities

As a result of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, since 2014, a large number of sports infrastructure facilities have been destroyed or damaged: from small venues to large-scale sports complexes. Let’s remember the ice arenas that have experienced the arrival of the “Russian world”.

Friendship (Donetsk)

Druzhba Sports Palace is a sports and concert complex in Donetsk. It was built in 1976 primarily for the development of hockey in the region. From 2010 to 2014, it became the home arena of one of the most famous hockey clubs in Ukraine – Donbass. Moreover, the only victory of Ukraine at the Continental Cup was won by Donetsk in Druzhba.

In addition to hockey, the complex was home to the Donetsk basketball club. Since 1990, the international track and field tournament “Stars of the Pole” has been held within the walls of the palace. Four times in Druzhba, a world record was set in pole vault among men and eight times among women. In a word, Druzhba, on a par with the Donbass Arena, has become the center of sports and cultural development of Donbass: titled clubs played here, international competitions and concerts of world-class stars were held.

However, the occupation of Donetsk destroyed all the rapid development of the region. On the night of March 26-27, 2014, DPR militants attacked the palace. They stunned and tied up the guards, and the building itself was looted and set on fire. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

So far, no attempts have been made to restore the arena or give the building a working look.

Mariupol Ice Center (Mariupol)

The ice arena in Mariupol was opened only in October 2020. Like Druzhba, the Ice Center was built to promote hockey in the Donetsk region. And this goal was fully achieved: the center became the home arena for HC Mariupol.

The opening match of the complex was remembered by all the citizens and guests of Mariupol: on October 22, 2020, the game between the newly created Mariupol and the revived Kyiv Sokol (1:2) took place, where the first throw-in was made by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

For a year and a half of vigorous activity, in addition to a professional team, a hockey school and figure skating sections appeared, where about 500 children studied. They took part in various tournaments and competitions, where they won prizes. This could go on and on, but the Russian army came. Now the arena building is in a dilapidated state.

Sports Palace (Severodonetsk)

The Severodonetsk Ice Sports Palace was opened in 1975 and since then has been the largest in Ukraine. The Khimik hockey club was based there, young hockey players and figure skaters trained, and international competitions were held.

Since 2005, it has been the main sports base of the Severodonetchanka volleyball club. In addition, the already mentioned Donetsk Donbass moved here, to the Luhansk region, during the reconstruction of Druzhba.

In 2012, Khimik was revived, the arena was used in full: hockey is played here, children train, creative performers come to perform, and the townspeople actively spend their free time. But two years later, in May 2014, the city was occupied by terrorist militants for almost three months. And 10 years later, on June 9, 2022, the chairman of the Lugansk Regional Military Administration, Sergei Gaidai, announced that the Ice Palace was destroyed as a result of shelling by Russian invaders.

Altair (Druzhkovka)

Ice Arena Altair was opened in October 2013 as part of the Hockey of Ukraine program. It was here that after the occupation of Donetsk, the HC Donbass settled down, and the largest hockey and figure skating school in Ukraine operated on the basis of the Druzhkovskaya arena.

By the evening of January 2, 2023, the Russian invaders launched several missile attacks on Druzhkovka and hit the arena building with an Kh-55 missile. It became known that before the impact, the ice rink functioned as a humanitarian warehouse. But the Russians once again covered up the strike on civilian targets with fakes about the “location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

Previously, some of the expensive equipment was removed from the arena, but later the Druzhkovka City Council called on the Ice Hockey Federation to return the equipment to Altair, the return clause was written in the contract, so this request would have to be granted.

Ice Arena (Melitopol)

The newest ice rink in Ukraine. On December 29, 2021, the grand opening of the arena, built as part of the Great Life program, took place with the match Kremenchuk – Dnipro (5:4 OT). A hockey school was supposed to open in the city, but less than two months later Melitopol was occupied.

For a certain period, the occupiers used the Ice Arena as a mortuary. The remnants of the Russian invaders were taken there before being delivered to their homes. It is possible that the skating rink is still used for this purpose.

Ice Arena (Lugansk)

Although this year the ice palace in Luhansk turns 10 years old, it has not been possible to use it for its intended purpose. This is another arena opened in 2013 as part of the state program Hockey of Ukraine. Today it is considered the largest ice rink in the eastern regions of Ukraine, since all other large sites were destroyed by the invaders.

Like Druzhba, the Luhansk arena, under occupation since 2014, is still largely intact. In 2023, the terrorists have another goal for it: “The largest indoor sports arena in the region after the destruction of the Ice Palace by the invaders, located in Luhansk, is overflowing with wounded Russians – they are trying to save more than 600 militants,” the Luhansk OVA said in a statement.

sad epilogue

The entire hockey world continues to watch the Russians in the NHL, for whom access there is still open, and they are waiting for Ovechkin (the founder of the putin team) to break the league record, while the Ukrainians are being deprived of opportunities to play and train. Therefore, now, when the Russians are destroying the Ukrainian sports infrastructure and killing our athletes, consideration of the admission of representatives of terrorist countries to the Olympic Games is impossible and unacceptable. Sport has never been out of politics, especially in the context of Russia.

Lilia Brezgunova